[Naturalist Sarah – 04/06/2018 – M/V Kestrel – 1:00pm]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh…… flowers blooming, turkey vultures in the air, warm breezes, the sweet melodies of lawn mowers around Friday Harbor….. Spring is here in the San Juans! That means one thing for us here at San Juan Safaris: the much anticipated first M/V Kestrel trip of the season! After a long prep day (shout out to Captain/Naturalist Erick) the boat looked sparkly clean and ready for a summer of adventures!

Captain Brian and I...

[Naturalist Sarah – 03/15/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Lately we have had some simply exceptional days out on the water. Not only have we been treated to insane whale sightings, but we have also had magical springtime weather.

While I was cooking breakfast this morning Captain Brian called me, “Want to go find some whales? Get down to the harbor in 15.” I quickly downed my breakfast, gathered my gear, called Naturalist Rachel, and zoomed down to the harbor. With fresh cups of...

[Naturalist Sarah – 02/24/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Yesterday was not what I would call an average trip in the Salish Sea… Definitely not normal mid-February, not even a normal for our peak season! The trip started out average enough, with no reports of wildlife as we left the dock. This time of year we rarely receive early reports from our spotting network, as the wildlife and boats are fewer and farther between. Captain Mike decided to steer the M/V Sea Lion east from Friday...

[Naturalist Sarah – 10/13/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

On Friday we had a lovely trip to find wildlife. We enjoyed beautiful water as we cruised over to the Canadian border and towards Victoria. On these fall days sometimes we need to go a bit out of our way to find whales and other wildlife. Captain Mike and I decided to go the extra mile to show our guests some orcas!

Just outside of the city’s harbor we found the T011s, a mother-son pair of orcas. This is one of my favorite...

A Beautiful Day on the Water with the T 10s

[Naturalist Alexandria – 09/26/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

What an awesome day on the water we had!  Naturalist Courtney and myself were so excited to begin our trip today, as we knew our Captain had received reports of Transient, or Biggs Orcas, being in the area!  We eagerly greeted our new friends that would be joining us on our trip for the next few hours, boarded everyone onto M/V Sea Lion, and were off! 

It wasn’t long before we...

Another one of our brother’s lives was cut all too short today via the jaws of our arch nemesis:  Bigg’s killer whales.  One moment onlookers were peacefully watching Phil gleefully dining upon a fish, and the next moment a froth of white water and maelstrom of orca bodies dulled his bulging eyes for eternity.  Although hopelessly outnumber and with no chance of escape, Phil battled the intimidating band for an impressive twenty-minutes before disappearing below the surface.  He was...

 M/V Sea Lion: Sunday 9/17 @ 12pm

An Early Autumn Afternoon

We started our whale watching trip on a gorgeous, cool and crisp early autumn afternoon.  Our enthusiastic group wasn’t going to let a few sprinkles of rain put a damper on our excitement for what was to come!  We loaded onto M/V Sea Lion- our trusty vessel for the trip- and departed on our adventure.  The crew offered fashionable rain slickers and blankets to anyone who wanted to ensure they keep dry, but mother nature...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 08/27/17, 5:30 pm Tour - Final Sunset Tour of the Season]

It's that time of year - the sun is setting earlier and earlier, which means we are saying goodbye to our sunset tours for the season. Today was our last, and Naturalist Kelsey and I were excited to soak up every minute of it. Captain Mike took us out to see a group of Bigg's Killer Whales out in the Strait of Georgia. These were the T65A's, a group of five orcas. Mom is a beautiful 31-year-old...

[Sarah M. – 07/20/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 05:30pm]

After a bit of a gray day in the San Juan Islands, we had a very welcome break in the clouds as we departed on our sunset whale watch from Friday Harbor. Out here in the Salish Sea your luck with wildlife sightings can change minute by minute, and yesterday was a great example of how the outcomes of previous trips can have no impact on sightings later in the day.

Captain Mike steered the M/V Sea Lion north out of the harbor towards...

[Sarah M. – 07/16/2017 – M/V Sea Lion – 01:30pm]

The M/V Sea Lion set out on another magical day in the Salish Sea. We had calm waters, blue skies, and whale reports! As has became the norm this year, we had orcas reported in an unusual location and we ended up weaving through the inner islands towards Rosario Strait and the Pea Pod Islands.

We were lucky enough to encounter the T037Bs and T034s traveling with T037. We had a lovely time watching the whales as they hunted in...